Prologue

They only ever fought when they were drunk. Mindy Lynn and Tuck Bowman had been together for a little more than seven years now and were known among their friends as the stable couple, the ones who never fought, who agreed on almost everything. And that was the truth, at least for the most part—until they both had a little more than they should to drink. Then it took nothing to set both of them off, and as they were driving home from the Grillfish, where they had been drinking at the bar for hours after finishing dinner, they were at each other's throats.

"Don't give me that," Tuck said, accelerating to rush through a yellow light. "I saw how you looked at him when he came over to you."

Mindy threw out her arms. "I don't even know who you're talking about, for crying out loud."

Tuck turned his head and stared at her, his blue eyes growing narrow and angry. Mindy worried that he wasn't looking at the road ahead.

"Do you love me?"

"Please, keep your eyes on the road," she said, placing her hands nervously on the glove compartment.

"I'll darn well keep my eyes where I want them," he hissed, then glared briefly ahead of them before looking at her again. He clasped her thigh hard. Pain shot through her body. Tuck had never laid a hand on her like that before. His eyes were glossy, staring blankly at her, his lips growing into a tight line. Mindy felt dizzy. She really shouldn't have taken those last two shots. She could still taste the tequila and would be so sick tomorrow. It was her problem. When they reached a certain level of drunkenness, it was like she couldn't stop. She wanted more and more. It wasn't often she allowed herself to go this far, and typically, she would have stopped a lot earlier before she reached that point of no return. But since Tuck got laid off from his construction job, things hadn't been good. They had struggled financially, and Tuck had found it hard not to be able to provide as he ought to. Not that they had any children yet, but they wanted to. They had been trying for years and struggling to face the fact that the pregnancy hadn't happened yet. Mindy often talked about seeing someone—a professional—about it but hadn't dared to mention it to Tuck yet. If something was wrong with him, it would break his heart. It would simply crush him.

"It'll come. You just need to give it time," her mom had said. "Who knows? Maybe you're worrying too much about it. It'll come when you least expect it. Heaven knows you were a huge surprise to your father and me. It's easier when you don't have any expectations."

So that's what Mindy tried not to have. Expectations. It was harder said than done, for sure. After three years of trying, it was getting difficult to ignore the facts. And tonight, she had brought it up, stupid as she was, over the fried fish platter, the same dish she always ordered in that place.

"It's been three years, Tuck. Do you think maybe something is off?"

Those were her words. That was all she had said. But it was enough. Tuck's eyes grew distant, and he barely blinked.

Before she could say anything else, he had downed his beer and asked for another one, which he drank without speaking a word to her. Mindy had cursed herself for bringing it up. It was supposed to have been a night of celebration for them because Tuck had finally landed a new job—one that paid well for once. They had been so happy up until that moment when she asked that dimwitted silly question when there was no reason to. Why did she have to ruin everything?

He had taken the drinking to the bar, and she had followed him, trying to put him in a better mood. After a couple of shots, he had finally eased up on her, and they had talked normally again. It wasn't until they made it to the car that the fighting began. Now, Tuck was accusing her of flirting with some guy she didn't even remember talking to. As always, they were avoiding what was really bothering them. They kept fighting as he turned onto Wisconsin Avenue, the car swerving on the road.

"I can't believe you," he said. "But I guess you don't love me anymore. If you loved me, you wouldn't cheat on me."

Mindy scoffed. "Cheat on you? Where is this coming from?"

"Oh, come on. How stupid do you think I am?" Tuck yelled, tapping a finger on his temple. "I know you. You've been acting so strange lately, and the other day you wouldn't let me look at your phone. You don't think I notice the signs, huh? But this is so typically you. You…"

"Please, keep your eyes on the road, Tuck!" Mindy yelled as a truck came rushing toward them, blaring its horn, blinking its headlights. Tuck pulled the wheel and turned away from it just in time. Mindy clasped her chest and breathed heavily as the truck blasted by them.

"There it is again," he said, looking at her angrily. "You thought I'd hit that truck, didn't you? You don't trust me."

That was the worst thing in Tuck's eyes—when Mindy didn't trust him to protect her. He always pulled that card when he was drunk. He would gather episodes in his mind and then rattle them off when he'd had too much. Starting with the time she asked him about the letters from the IRS that kept coming in the mail. Mindy closed her eyes with a sigh. Her head was spinning, and she felt a headache approaching behind her eyes.

"Of course, I trust you, Tuck," she lied, trying to calm him down, to make him feel better. She had done that a lot these past few years when he got like this. It usually worked, but she wasn't sure it would this time. "I was just scared. You know how nervous I get when driving after…."

Mindy trailed off when thinking about her best friend, Amy. She had been in a car crash when they were still in high school, and a car slammed head-on into hers. She had been killed on the spot.

Mindy looked out the front as a set of headlights hit them and almost blinded her.

"That car is coming toward us really fast," she said, her voice trembling.

Tuck turned to look and saw the car rushing toward them, swerving from side to side. "Oh sh…." Tuck said, turning the wheel abruptly as the car whooshed by them.

"Whoa!" Mindy exclaimed, and they both looked in the rearview mirror, following its path as it continued, then crashed into a tree on the side of the road.